Manufacture of ironing-machine shoes



Aug'. 18, 1925.

J. F. P ATTON MANUFACTURE OF IRONING MACHINE SHOES Filed Dec. 7, 1921 IN1/Emol; .722 222m' pdfozz By @QW mi @A T@ A TTORN `Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

' y PATENT. g ofrrflnc e JAM'Esri Perron, or CLEVELAND, Orino.

MANUFACTURE" O IRONING-IVDACHINE SHOES A-Iiaplication` ledifDecember 7,1921. Serial No.` 520,706;

ingfshoeiorchamber againstswhich a rotavv tive drunris adapted to bear, yso that vthe articlestoV befironed: may lie-passed across 'the surface of 'sucht shoecby `they rotation ofthe drum. The surface of; the latter` is usually formed `of paddedr fabric tightly 'wound or otherwise secured to .thedr-um,` while the shoe 4ismadetof metal, usual-ly castiron, and itscontacting surface isl highly polished, the fimction of such surface beingzthatfofthe highlyy polished surface in` the familiar sad-iron. In order to secure satisfactory operative results with a machine of the typeA in Vopuestion,"itisobviously necessary not only that such operative surface ofthe shoe be highly polished, but also that it conform accurately to the cylindrical surface of the drum.

In the manufacture, however, of such shoes, no small amount of difficulty is encountered when it is attempted to machine the rough casting by ordinary methods. The heating effect of the machining operation in particular I have discovered produces such a distortion or warping of the shoe, which is of relatively elongated narrow shape, thatno matter how carefully the casting be blocked up on the machine bed, or how Carefully the actual machining operation be gauged, the result will be Va surface not strictly cylindrical, or if initially so, inherent strains are produced that will subsequently manifesty themselves in the assembled machine by causing the shoe to buckle slightly and so destroy the original true shape given its operative face.

The object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a method of finishing the surface of such an ironing machine shoe or `similar mechanical part as willy avoid the difculties just referred to, andtothis end the present invention consists of the steps hereinafterV fully describedand1 parrticularly pointed out inthe claims,v the an'- nexed'drawing and the following descripL tion setting forthin detailf'one-approved method ofcarrying out the invention, such' disclosed mode, however, constituting but one' of thel various ways in' which the principle of the inventionmay be used;

In said annexed drawing Fig. l isa side elevational view more on less diagrammatic in character, illustrating my improved methody of finishing machine parts of the character inf questiongand Fig` 2 is a transverse sectional view of themechanism or apparatus shownin FigQLtakenon the plane indicated by thelne 2-2 on' said ligure. l l

Brieiiy stated, my improved method "of manufacture involves the use, instead of :t planing, milling' or shapingtool to finish the surface, of such ironing machine shoe'o'r thelilre, of 'a grindingwheel formedof a suitable abrasive, suchas carborundum, vsuch wheel bein of the proper cross'psectional shapeto impart-the desired, curvature to the surface being finished, and not only being! itself rotated atv-a high rat'efof speed-but also beingrelativelymoved back andfcfort-hy over t the work. In this manner the heating effect of the grinding operation is given no chance to accumulate in any one part of the work, but the latter is heated approximately uniformly practically throughout its entire extent. Not only do I thus avoid any tendency for the work to become distorted during the actual finishing operation, but so far as the action ofthe heat developed may approach that of an annealing operation, the result is uniform throughout the work and so no unusual strains remain in the latter to occasion distortion later.

The illustrative `ligures'of the drawing Lshow simply in diagrammatic form a re-k ciprocable suitable bed rl, such as is employed in a planer or like type of machine,`

cylindrical form and is mounted on a suitable shaft 3 in a head a that may be vertically adjusted as required, the direction of movement of the bed 1 being at right angles to said shaft, i. e. parallel with the aXis of the surface w. Any suitable means for driving the arbor at a relatively high rate of speed may be provided, such for example as the countershaft 5, directly connected With the arbor 3 through a belt 6 and suitable pulleys.

In operation, after the Work has been secured to the bed 1, as aforesaid, the grinding Wheel 2 is adjusted in proper position to contact with the surface w and, being set in rotation, the bed 1 is thereupon moved back and forth from one end to the other so as to cause said Wheel to operate on the Work. The rapi-dity of the reciprocatory movement that requires to be thus imparted to the bed will vary With the character of the Work, the particular constitution of the metal composing same, its thickness, etc., but the rate of movement can be accurately gauged by noting the heating effect. This, as before stated, Where such reciprocatory movement is sufficiently rapid, Will be substantialy uniform throughout the entire extent of the Work, as may be readily determined by any suitable thermometric appliance. I have found that not only may t-he ironing machine shoe be finished very eXpeditiously in the aforesaid manner, but that vit Will be much superior to shoes as currently made by ordinary machining processes. In other Words, no perceptible Warping or distortion will occur subsequently either during storage or under conditions of use Where, of course, heat requires necessarily to be applied to the shoe. This will indicate that the inherent strains, if any' remain, are uniformly distributed throughout the shoe if not actually that an annealing eect'has been secured whereby such strains have been completely eliminated.

It Will be understood of course, that so far as the results obtained are concerned, it is a matter of indifference Whether the bed With the Work be reciprocated relatively to the grinding wheel, or vice versa, so long as such Wheel be caused to cover the surface operated on With sufficient frequency to produce the desired result.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the method herein disclosed, provided the step or steps stated by the following claim or the equivalent of such stated step or steps be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention In the manufacture of ironing machine shoes and like articles, the method of finishing the Working face thereof, which consists in contacting a grinding Wheel of the proper transverse contour With such face, and then simultaneously rotating such Wheel and relatively reciprocating the same or the article, one with relation to the other, longitudinally of the latter at such a rate as will heat said article substantially uniformly throughout, until a temperature is finally thus produced suliicient to relieve said article of inherent strains or stresses substantially as describec Signed by me, this 1st day of December, 1921.

JAMES F. PATTON. 

